Breeze player and team Strength and Conditioning Coach Alex “AJ” Jacoski ordered up a bluebird, 70 degree weekend for the Ocean City Beach Classic (OCBC) October 15-16th. With 30 teams in attendance, the waterfront at Ocean City was buzzing with players from as far afield as Oneonta and Long Island, NY, and south to Virginia Beach. The DC, Maryland and Virginia club scene was well-represented and notably included delegates from Scandal, Grit, Backhanded, Truck Stop, Medicine Men, Runtime, Ambiguous Grey, and American Hyperbole, among others.
In addition to organizing the tournament, AJ also played with tournament champions, Humiliswag, which was comprised of players from a number of elite club teams, as well as the Breeze. “Even though I played with Humiliswag, my main focus the entire weekend was to make it the best possible event for the players,” said Jacoski. “I was nervous but the team captains and my tournament organizing crew did an amazing job and everything was a success.”
On the operations side of the tournament, Jacoski had the help of some close friends and his parents, who have become Ultimate Frisbee super-fans. His mother staffed tournament central all weekend long, decked out in a Jacoski #33 Breeze jersey. “I couldn’t have done it without them and they also freed me up to be able to play with Humiliswag!” Humiliswag was joined on the podium by two other teams from the DC area.
When he’s not training with Morrill Performance Fitness Performance Training or playing mean defense with the DC Breeze, AJ is working to bolster Beach Ultimate participation in Ocean City, and elevate his own beach game with Humiliswag.
As the competition in club and Pro ramps up, Jacoski believes that beach ultimate will continue to provide a unique, fun, and spirited version of ultimate that is accessible to all. He’s toying with the idea of debuting an OCBC youth flight or hat tournament next year, to answer the growing interest from high school and college mixed teams apparent at this year’s tournament.
For players looking to break into the beach scene, Jacoski recommends consulting BULA, the Beach Ultimate Lovers Association, for resources. Of course, he also recommends the Ocean City Beach Ultimate Facebook page and OCbeachultimate.com for pick up, league, and clinic information, as well as more information about how you can join next year’s Ocean City Beach Classic.